Age

• Childhood and youth are facts of nature.

  Childhood is a social invention. They are known as mini adults and therefor innocent and only recognized as what they can become.
• The categories of childhood and youth have nothing to do with governance.

  Children don't come into the world ready to work, marry or behave fittingly. They require age-appropriate learning assistance (rules, training, discipline, ect.) that relax gradually over time.
• Childhood is characterized by innocence and youth by natural resistance to authority.

  Childhood innocence is a construct of the 18th century romanticism. Youthful rebellion is a construct made to explain 70s youth subcultural critiques of government policies.
• Conservative approach: Child is wide eyed and innocent to be protected from corruption - the romantic Child.

  • Protection through direct rules and surveillance; keeping away bad influences
  • Laws on School attendance, sex, driving and adult acts
  • Absolute power of adults over juniors
  • Special privileges, maturity for older kids and keeping the rebellious teen in check
• Liberal approach: Child is the informed decision maker, an extension of parent consumer power and to be given scaffold info and choices.

  • Age appropriate information/tasks and developing an appropriate schedule.
  • Comparing development by level, elective and study choices
  • Students have a vote and decide choices in their life to a certain extent
• Critical approach: Children are future citizens with rights, they can act on social change and even educate adults on it.

  • Policies reflecting the UN convention on the rights of the child - protection through empowering kids to act for what they think is right.
  • Whole school reforms based on Child's needs or SCR's safe rooms and activism clubs.
• Post modern approach: Children are partial subjects or social constructions composed of assumptions about childhood.

  • Protection through deconstruction and promoting awareness of schools constructs
  • Kids studying representations of kids, teacher treating the representations as if they aren't real
  • Structures/committees allowing students more say over how classes/schools are run
  • Children and adults are seen as equal